


Having To Wait Forever

by Krasimer



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Awkward Crush, Crushes, M/M, Oblivious Robbie Rotten, Oblivious Sportacus (LazyTown), Pre-Robbie Rotten/Sportacus, Secret Crush, Stingy has a crush, Teen Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 14:18:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17830163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krasimer/pseuds/Krasimer
Summary: From Tumblr:"Stingy goes to Robbie for crush advice, and after his “You are ten!!” reaction, Stingy just calmly says “Okay, but are you going to help me or not?”And Robbie just kinda. Gestures emphatically at Sportacus, then at himself, and says, “Kid, do I look like someone who knows what I’m doing when it comes to crushes?”"





	Having To Wait Forever

“I think I have a crush on someone.”

Robbie blinked a couple of times, lifted his arm off of his eyes, then frowned. “What?”

One of the children was standing in front of him, shoulders slouched and a somewhat scared expression on his face. The yellow child – he was never going to admit to knowing their names, not even in his own mind – stared back at him. He rocked back and forth on his feet for a minute, then nodded. “I think I have a crush on someone.”

“Okay.” Robbie pushed himself into a seated position, narrowing his eyes. “And you’ve come to me because…?”

Stingy sighed and crawled up on the bench next to him. “You’re someone I can tell without getting yelled at or being really excited about it. And being…Exuberant. Sportacus would smile and be excited for me and ask me what is happening with my crush and—I just…Don’t want that right now.” He swung his feet for a moment, then curled his hands together in his lap. “And I know you won’t yell or be loud.”

“I…” Robbie stared at Stingy for a moment, feeling something distinctly paternal rising up in him.

The fact that he was considered a reasonable person to talk to about a crush was a couple of things. It was, first and foremost, cause for concern. The child should have been able to tell one of his other little friends or at the very least a parent. The words that Stingy had used concerned him the most: who yelled at their kid for having a crush on someone?

It was confusing, secondly.

“So who do you have a crush on?” Robbie asked after a minute passed between them in silence.

“Pixel.” Stingy said it so matter-of-factly that Robbie almost laughed, managing to rein in the sound before it could escape him. “He’s smart and he’s cute and…I just like him.” He shrugged, bracing his hands on the edge of the bench.

“There are worse reasons to like someone,” Robbie assured him. His entire internal monologue was devoting itself to reasons why Stingy should find someone, _anyone_ , else to be telling this to. There was a reason he avoided the now officially teenagers of Lazytown. The youngest, Ziggy, was eleven now. Not a teen quite yet, but getting close to it. Stingy himself was a precocious fourteen and a half, Robbie had gleaned from overhearing his mother talking about his birthday in several months.

“Are there better ones?” Stingy turned his eyes on Robbie instead of on the way his toes were tapping together.

Robbie thought about it for a moment and shrugged. “Not really that I’ve noticed,” he told the boy. “Crushes happen whether you want them to or not. Sometimes it’s because they’ve got nice hair, or because they’ve got a good smile. Sometimes it’s just the way they said hello that one time…” he trailed off, then sighed. “Look, I’m glad I come across as a competent adult—”

“I just needed _someone_ to talk to,” Stingy shrugged as well. “I don’t…I don’t know anyone else who I can ask for advice.”

 _And there was the other reason_.

The third reason, the final reason, that him being seen as a competent adult to talk to about crushes was hilarious. Robbie choked on his laughter, this time, unable to keep it from getting out. “Kid,” he snorted the word out, then tried again. “Kid, listen to me.” He stood up and gestured for Stingy to follow.

Stingy did with barely more than a confused noise in the back of his throat to show for it.

Robbie moved to the edge of the park, where they could see Sportacus running around the field with an energetic Stephanie on his heels, both of them chasing after Trixie. It looked like they were playing an odd version of tag, maybe mixed with soccer. “I want you to pay attention to the next thing I say, very carefully,” Robbie put a hand on Stingy’s shoulder, watching as the boy nodded.

He gestured between himself and Sportacus with quick, jerky motions. “Kid, do I look like someone who knows what I’m doing when it comes to crushes?”

For a moment, Stingy’s face was twisted in a confused expression as he stared at Robbie, then at Sportacus, then back again. There was almost a too-loud intake of air when it finally clicked in his brain and Robbie wanted to run away and never look back. “Oh.” Stingy looked up at him with wide eyes. “ _Oh._ ”

“Yes.”

“ _Oh!”_

“You don’t have to keep saying that,” Robbie muttered.

“You like—”

“ _Please_ do not finish that sentence,” Robbie covered his face with both of his hands. “I am well aware of who I like, you are well aware of who I like, we do not need to discuss it further. Can we please just leave it at that and pretend there is nothing else to say about it? Maybe even that this conversation never happened?” he glanced at the field and noticed the smile Sportacus had on his face as he cheered Stephanie and Trixie on.

“I am just saying,” Stingy looked worried for a minute, then reached forward and put a hand on Robbie’s arm. “It makes a lot of what you’ve done over the years make sense.”

“That’s- That’s perfect, thank you,” Robbie groaned and shook his head.

“It really does!” Stingy smiled at him, Robbie could see it when he peered through his fingers. “I mean…He has been in town since I was nine.” He suddenly turned the wattage on his smile up several notches, positively _beaming_ at Robbie now. “Do you want to ever talk about it?”

“…As nice as it is to have that offered,” Robbie covered his face again. “I am going to sidestep the whole field of problems that question opens up and say, ‘ _no_ ’.”

Stingy, before Robbie could do or say anything else, hugged him quickly and then backed away. “I think I’m going to go find Ziggy and see if he wants to play a game.” He told Robbie as he raced off. “Thank you for talking to me!” he called back over his shoulder.

“Sure,” he found himself whispering even after Stingy had gone out of hearing range. “No problem.”

 

X

 

He could tell when the children were upset about something.

Sportacus took a break from the game, watching Trixie see how many times she could bounce the soccer ball on her knee instead. At some point, while they had been playing, Stingy and Ziggy had arrived. Stingy had simply waved at them before waiting on the sidelines and watching Stephanie move around the field.

Before Sportacus could even suggest taking a break, Stingy had called her over.

The two of them had whispered about something for a few minutes before Stephanie had gasped and put both of her hands over her mouth. Perhaps Stingy had finally told her what had been bothering him the last couple of days?

The boy had been hiding away from his friends, it seemed. If that was the case, Sportacus was glad that he’d finally told someone. Keeping secrets that kept you away from your friends was unhealthy. He was glad when his charges could talk to each other about something. Pixel had also been staying away from the group for a few days – he did have to wonder if the two things were related.

Although, there had been the new boy in town.

Pixel had said something about wanting to see if he could get him to come out and join them at times.

Sportacus caught the ball when it went wildly off of Trixie’s knee, tossing it back to her when she held out her hands for it. “Thanks, Sportacus!” she called back. After he’d nodded, she turned to look at Stephanie and Stingy, frowning. “You guys okay?” she went over to them, the ball tucked under one arm.

The two other teenagers turned to her and nodded, Stingy’s cheeks almost the same color as Stephanie’s dress. With a couple of whispers, they told Trixie whatever it was that they’d been talking about.

Ziggy, at their sides, was glancing at Sportacus every few seconds before turning back to them. As he had gotten older, he had embraced an ‘Indoor voice’ that had surprised the rest of the group. When he whispered, it was actually a whisper more often than not. He reached up and hugged Stingy quickly, bumping his forehead against the older boy’s shoulder. Whatever it was must have been worrying Stingy, since he not only allowed the contact but also leaned into it.

Stingy, as he grew older, was starting to remind Sportacus a little of Robbie.

A little awkward, a little unsure of himself, but whip-smart and kinder than he thought he was. There was a vast difference between how he felt for the two, of course, but the basis of Stingy’s personality reminded him of Robbie.

How he felt for Robbie…That was a different thing entirely.

The man was brilliant, always inventing things and making things and foods and clothes and there was just something about the way he played as a villain but still made sure to remember the birthdays’ of the children. About how, with every birthday that came around, there would be a batch of cupcakes or a cake. The signature purple frosting, the orange lettering on top…

Sportacus smoothed his hat down over his head, smiling as he thought about how long Robbie must have worked on each of those things.

He didn’t know from personal experience, could not eat a baked good even if it meant saving the town, but he knew from Stephanie. She baked desserts on occasion, could tell him roughly how long Robbie must have spent on each treat that showed up for the children of the town.

It made him feel warmth in his chest.

For all his protests to the contrary, Robbie seemed to adore the children in the same way Sportacus did.

Under his hat, he felt his ear twitch and, as he came back to current awareness, he realized it was because he’d heard his name in their whispered conversation. He tried not to listen to their whispered conversations, eavesdropping was rude after all, but they’d said his name. On his chest, his crystal flickered for a moment, aware of his name being said.

He continued not-paying attention to them, picking his bottle of water up and taking a few sips from it. His name wasn’t said again, but he worried over the fact that they were talking about him. Had he done something to upset them?

He didn’t think so.

After what seemed like an eternity, he turned his head to see Stingy standing at his elbow. “Sportacus?”

“Is something the matter, Stingy?” Sportacus felt a twist of worry in his chest: Stingy looked upset about something. “Are you okay?”

“How…” the boy hesitated for a minute, then nodded. “How do you deal with a crush on someone?”

Oh.

Sportacus smiled at him. “I haven’t had much experience with that, but I’ve seen that it generally is better to admit that you like someone, even if it just to yourself.” Like how he had admitted to himself that he liked Robbie, months and months and _years_ ago. He hadn’t said anything to the villain, hadn’t mentioned it to anyone else, but he had come to terms with it.

The fact that coming to terms with it had involved a couple of minor panic attacks about what would happen if Robbie found out, well…That was his business.

“…Are adults just pretending to know what they’re doing?” Stingy’s face crumpled down into a confused frown, his eyes narrowed.

With a bit of a laugh, Sportacus nodded. “Often. That is what I have found, at least.” He smiled at Stingy. “I can help with avoiding some of the mistakes I’ve made, I can give you advice on things that you’re worried about, but I am afraid I just…Don’t have that much experience with crushes.”

“Have you ever had one on someone?”

“I have,” Sportacus nodded. “I have a crush on someone right now.”

“Oh?” Stingy’s expression brightened. “Are you going to tell me who?”

Slowly, Sportacus turned his head and stared off into the distance. He thought he’d picked a random direction, but he could see the billboard off in the distance. “I think I am going to keep that a secret,” he turned his head back towards Stingy, still smiling.

For a moment, Sportacus thought the boy was going to call him out on who his crush was. After the moment passed, however, Stingy simply sighed and nodded. “Are crushes always this complicated?” he groaned the words out and pressed his hands against his face.

“From what I have seen, yes.” He hummed a gentle note and put a hand on Stingy’s shoulder.

If he were going to be truthful with himself, he’d taken a running leap from ‘Crush’ to ‘In love’ a long time ago. Back when Robbie had slowed down on the schemes to run him out of town, making it clear that he’d been doing it as entertainment for the children.

At least Stingy had it right:

Love was complicated.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys liked this. It went down on my external and that thing still sometimes works when I plug it in. I managed to get it back, but still haven't been able to retrieve a bunch of other things.


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